Cameras catch suspected gas-guzzling thieves in the act

SAN ANDREAS - A suspected gasoline thief and two of his partners in crime are in the Calaveras County Jail after the man used his personal credit card to start a pump before he tampered with it to steal 400 gallons of gasoline.

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By Dana M. Nichols

recordnet.com

By Dana M. Nichols

Posted Jan. 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Dana M. Nichols

Posted Jan. 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

SAN ANDREAS - A suspected gasoline thief and two of his partners in crime are in the Calaveras County Jail after the man used his personal credit card to start a pump before he tampered with it to steal 400 gallons of gasoline.

The Calaveras County Sheriff's Office reported that Jason Newton, 37, of Valley Springs used the credit card Monday at Glory Hole Sports/Texaco on Highway 49 near Angels Camp.

The credit card information, as well as surveillance video from the Glory Hole gas station, helped investigators identify Newton and the large white truck he was driving.

Officers caught up to the truck Tuesday night in the parking lot of the MarVal grocery store in Valley Springs. Newton was at the wheel.

Officers searched the truck and found siphon hoses, fuel containers and burglary tools.

Arrested on suspicion of grand theft, conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of burglary tools were Newton; Michael Duncan, 45, of Valley Springs; and Robert Range, 31, of Manteca.

Investigators said that Newton confessed to committing similar thefts in Rocklin and Lodi. In at least one case, the gas station involved has yet to report the loss.

The Sheriff's Office said Newton admitted that Duncan and Range also were involved in the thefts.

Investigators said that video footage taken on or about Dec. 31 at the Shell Sierra Trading Post in Angels Camp showed that Newton's truck and a man who looks like Newton were present when 288 gallons of gasoline were stolen there.

Sgt. Chris Hewitt of the Sheriff's Office said that because the men tamper with the pumps before taking the gasoline, there may not be any record of the fuel pumped to immediately alert station operators to the losses.

"They might not find the loss until they do an inventory," Hewitt said.

Hewitt said the Lodi Police Department indicated it had not received any report of a fuel theft corresponding to the one Newton confessed to committing there.

Hewitt said investigators don't yet know what the three men were doing with hundreds of gallons of stolen fuel.

"Right now, there's nothing to suggest it is an organized operation," Hewitt said. Investigators, however, are still working on the case.